It's You, Cyclizar!

This was the outskirts of Hau'oli City, located southeast of Melemele Island, connecting Hau'oli City with Ten Carat Hill and Melemele Sea.

That was how the map on the panel described it, with a little avatar marking Xingye's location.

The sky had gradually darkened. He walked alone along the beach, listening to the waves crashing against the reefs in the distance. The anxiety he had felt earlier had completely faded, leaving him calm.

Against the neon glow of distant Hau'oli City, he instead felt an inexplicable familiarity. Whether in the past or now, he had always been alone—but now, he could make a change!

"Let me see what the Rotom Phone can do!"

As soon as he spoke, several glowing dots instantly appeared on the map before him. This was the Help System's function, and those dots represented Pokémon nearby that needed help.

"Doesn't seem like there are that many..."

Xingye looked at the map and roughly estimated the distance. The farthest one was 478 meters away, so it probably only displayed targets within five hundred meters.

Since it only showed glowing dots and not Pokémon portraits, he could only go check the nearest one first. Hopefully, it wasn't some Pokémon that was merely hungry.

There were quite a few Pokémon along the beach at night, but most of them were Pyukumuku.

These little fellows liked staying on shore, even when they were hungry. Even if they were thrown out, they would keep returning to the same spot.

Now that night had fully fallen, their black bodies blended easily into the surroundings. Xingye wasn't paying attention and stepped on one, only to get punched...

"Ow, ow, ow. Jumping up to punch me in the face is a bit much." He rubbed his face, then finally confirmed his destination and looked toward the shore ahead.

There was a figure lying motionless on the sand, letting the surging waves wash over its body. Several Mareanie were approaching nearby, perhaps mistaking it for food.

"Did it wash ashore after drowning...? Wait there, I'll pull you out right away!"

Xingye didn't think too much about it. His first priority was to chase away the Mareanie, so he swiftly picked up a Pyukumuku by his feet and hurled it at them!

Having been thrown into the air, the Pyukumuku finally reacted and triggered its Innards Out Ability. A left hook flew from its mouth with a gust of wind, knocking the Mareanie away.

Seizing the moment when the Pyukumuku returned to its original spot, Xingye immediately approached, intending to drag that Pokémon somewhere drier.

But when he got closer and saw what it looked like, he couldn't help feeling surprised.

It looked like a lizard, nearly as long as an adult human. Its body was mainly green and black—not especially attractive.

There was a bulge around its neck resembling a motorcycle tire, an extremely conspicuous feature. Behind its eyes were orange rings like turn signals, which were probably its ear structures.

"This is... Cyclizar?!"

Xingye knew a little about Cyclizar. It was a common household Pokémon in the Paldea Region, something every family had. He just hadn't expected to find one in the Alola Region too.

While surprised, he took another careful look at the glowing dot on the map and confirmed that the Pokémon needing help was this Cyclizar. But it was unconscious, so Xingye could only drag it ashore with all his strength.

It took him a full two hours to finally drag Cyclizar beneath a relatively dry coconut tree. Then he took off his clothes and used them to wipe its body dry, helping its skin dry faster.

As Xingye remembered, Cyclizar couldn't tolerate the cold very well, which was why they used human body heat to keep warm and eventually became common transportation in the Paldea Region...

The sea breeze continued blowing through the night. His clothes had become soaked while he used them to dry Cyclizar, and wearing them now was colder than wearing nothing at all.

Xingye hugged himself and shivered. If he couldn't find somewhere to stay soon, he might really become a transmigrator who died for the second time on the very day he arrived.

But just then, the hand resting on Cyclizar suddenly felt a faint tremor. He turned his head and discovered a pair of sharp, rainbow-colored eyes that could shake the soul, staring intently at him.

Xingye froze. For an instant, his heart and lungs seemed to stop. At that moment, it felt as though some ancient primordial beast had fixed its gaze on him. But when he looked again, those rainbow eyes had already become black.

"What the hell, was that an illusion...?"

He felt that Cyclizar's pupils had changed just now, like someone else's—though he couldn't remember who. But they had vanished again. Of course, maybe it was simply too dark and he had seen wrong...

But none of that mattered. Putting it out of his mind, he forced a smile onto his exhausted face and asked, "Are you okay? I saw you lying on the beach with half your body in the water, so I pulled you out."

"Cyclizar?"

"Are you asking who I am? My name is Xingye. For now, I'm unemployed..."

"Cyclizar~"

Cyclizar suddenly cried out happily, then stood up and rubbed its head against him. They had clearly just met, yet it was unexpectedly affectionate.

"Okay, okay..."

Cyclizar's behavior left Xingye somewhat at a loss. Maybe it was because he had saved it? Was this its way of thanking him?

Just as he thought that, Cyclizar suddenly bit his head...

"OW, OW, OW!!!"

He yanked his head free with all his strength. Fortunately, it hadn't bitten down hard. But at that moment, the panel before him suddenly popped up on its own, displaying the same reward effect as before with the Rotom Phone.

[Obtained Cyclizar's Friendship: Riding EX (Highly proficient with all types of riding tools; Trainers only)]

"This easily...?"

Xingye hadn't expected to obtain a Friendship Talent so easily. And judging by its effect, it seemed like it could only be used on himself.

Then again, that made sense. It wasn't as if Pokémon could ride other Pokémon. This wasn't Calyrex.

Besides that, more information appeared before his eyes...

[Pokémon: Cyclizar]

[Type: Dragon + Normal]

[Height/Weight: 1.7m/66.5kg]

[Ability: Shed Skin (By shedding its skin, it may sometimes heal status conditions)]

[Moves: Forgot them all...]

[Status: Amnesia (Since it doesn't know who it is, it has also forgotten how to use all its moves), Hungry (So hungry, is there anything to eat...), Chilled (A little cold, hopes to warm up)]

"It has amnesia? No wonder it was so easy to win over. Poor thing..."

But when he saw the line saying it was hungry, Xingye rubbed his own stomach. Well, he was hungry too. After all, he hadn't eaten anything since arriving...

He sighed softly, then stroked Cyclizar's smooth head and smiled helplessly. "You lost your memory, got washed up on the beach, and were saved by me. I also somehow ended up lying on a beach and got picked up by someone. In a way, we're pretty alike."

"Cyclizar, Cyclizar~"

Cyclizar hugged him in return, still looking incredibly happy. Xingye felt uncomfortable in every way—this was the first time he had encountered someone so enthusiastic.

"You keep saying 'Cyclizar, Cyclizar,' but I can't understand you..."

His head immediately started aching. He suddenly understood the importance of communication. He just didn't know whether anyone in this world specialized in researching Pokémon language, or whether there was some Talent that let people understand it.

But this was, in the truest sense, the first Pokémon whose friendship he had obtained... Though that friendship had come ridiculously cheaply, he was still very happy.

And at that moment, an idea began to form in his mind: he wanted a Pokémon of his own, and he wanted to become a Trainer!

He wanted to travel with Pokémon too—walk through damp grass, climb rugged mountains, cross roaring seas, and stroll through dark caves.

Whenever he grew tired and felt a little homesick, he could return home during his free time, spend a brief while with his family and partner, then set off again...

That had once been his dream, and perhaps this transmigration could turn that fantasy into reality!

"Become my Pokémon!"

Xingye suddenly shouted at Cyclizar. Since it had lost its memories, it was just like him—homeless. He couldn't simply leave it here.

But after shouting those words, he became a little nervous. This wasn't a game. The Pokémon here were real living creatures. Like humans, they had feelings of their own.

Cyclizar stood blankly in place, repeatedly scratching its head with its claws as though trying hard to understand what he meant. But with its memories gone, it couldn't recall anything.

Thus, one human and one lizard silently stared at each other beneath the night sky. As time slowly passed, two sudden growls broke the silence.

Xingye's and Cyclizar's stomachs had both begun rumbling at the same time.

The tense atmosphere instantly scattered. Xingye rubbed his stomach and laughed awkwardly, while Cyclizar did the same.

"Haha..."

"Cyclizar~"

Cheap friendship might one day grow into an unbreakable bond. Cyclizar happily agreed to become Xingye's Pokémon.

The first step toward his dream began here. But before that... he had to find a way to save these two guys who were about to starve to death.